CVE-2017-1548
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedIBM Sterling File Gateway 2.2 could allow a remote attacker to traverse directories on the system. An attacker could send a specially-crafted URL request containing "dot dot" sequences (/../) to view arbitrary files on the system. IBM X-Force ID: 131288.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceIBM Sterling File Gateway 2.2 contains a path traversal vulnerability that allows remote attackers to access arbitrary files on the system by sending specially-crafted URLs containing 'dot dot' sequences (/../). The vulnerability allows unauthenticated viewing of files outside the web root directory.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 2.2CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify IBM Sterling File Gateway installationLocate the installation directory (typically under /opt/ibm or C:\IBM on Windows) or check system services for processes related to Sterling File Gateway. Look for the 'SfgInstallDir' or similar environment variablesAffected if IBM Sterling File Gateway is not present on the system
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Determine the installed versionCheck the version by examining installation manifests, the About page in the admin console, or looking for version files in the installation directory. The affected version is specifically 2.2Affected if The installed version is exactly 2.2
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Verify web application is accessibleAttempt to access the Sterling File Gateway web URL or check the deployed web application in the underlying application server (such as WebSphere). The vulnerability is exploitable through HTTP requests to the web interfaceAffected if The web interface is exposed and reachable
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Test for path traversal vulnerabilitySend a crafted HTTP GET request containing directory traversal sequences to the web server, for example: GET /..%2F..%2F..%2Fetc%2Fpasswd or similar patterns with unencoded '../' sequences. Examine if the response returns file contents from outside the web root directoryAffected if The server returns file contents from system directories outside the web root, confirming the vulnerability is present and exploitable
Environment is affected if IBM Sterling File Gateway version 2.2 is installed, the web interface is accessible, and path traversal requests successfully return files from outside the web root directory
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply the IBM patch for this vulnerability. As an immediate workaround, implement input validation to reject URLs containing directory traversal sequences, and consider deploying a WAF rule to block requests with '../' patterns.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-1548 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-1548 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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